The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the February 25 election, Atiku Abubakar, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to announce and finalise the governorship election in Adamawa State. He equally demanded the arrest and prosecution of all officials of the electoral umpire found complicit in the drama that took place on Sunday.
The former Vice President, in a press statement on Sunday signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, said that the initial decision of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State to declare the APC candidate, Sen. Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, as the winner of the election, is a case study of the nature of the 2023 elections in general.
“Here in Adamawa, we are witnesses to a novel practice in election management where a Resident Electoral Commissioner announced the loser of an election as a winner,” said Atiku.
“It is not in doubt that INEC has approached the Adamawa State election with a preset agenda of declaring the APC at all costs.
“It is, therefore, on this note that we wish to call the attention of the world to the scheme being perpetrated by INEC to compromise the electoral wishes of the people of Adamawa State.
“We also wish to inform the world that such behaviour by INEC has a natural consequence of unsettling the peace and security of the society.
“We have seen how INEC conducted the February 25 and March 18 elections against the run of play and challenging cheated candidates to go to the court, knowing full well the agenda that they are up to.
“It must be put on record that the people of Adamawa State will not allow themselves to be cheated three times in a row. It must also be put on record that whatever the consequences of the scheme being scripted, both the INEC and those vested with state powers should be blamed for the consequences of such actions.
“That the APC candidate had a prepared acceptance speech is a pointer to the guarantee of a false victory which the INEC must have promised her.
“Recall that this was the same Resident Electoral Commissioner, who pressured the Returning Officer to manipulate the results of the contentious Fufore Local Government Area in the March 18 governorship election.”
Atiku said the people of Adamawa would not allow this “injustice to pass without being challenged.”
“We demand the immediate resumption of the collation of results and its finalisation today.
“It is also our demand that the Adamawa REC and any other parties complicit in this treasonable act should be arrested immediately and prosecuted to the full extent of the law to serve as a deterrent to anti-democratic forces who may want to torpedo our democracy and provoke violence in our country,” he added.
